The Gaucho Record
UC Santa Barbara enters this week's games with an overall record of 1-5. The Gauchos lost a close one last Saturday to Pepperdine, 68-64. In the previous game, UCSB snapped its four game season-opening losing streak with a 73-57 win over Westmont College.

The Last Game
UCSB played one of its best all-around games of the season on Saturday, losing a 68-64 decision to visiting Pepperdine. The Gauchos overcame a 12-point first half deficit and ultimately took a six point lead midway through the second half. Pepperdine, however fought back and was able to hold off several UCSB pushes in the final minutes. The Gauchos were led by swingman Mark Hull who scored a career-high 19 points and tied his career-high with seven rebounds. Forwards Juliano Jordani and Adama Ndiaye had 13 and 11 points respectively. Jordani also had eight rebounds.

What About Bob?Bob Williams is in his second season as head coach of the Gauchos. Last year he guided the Gauchos to a 15-13 overall record and an outstanding 12-4 mark in Big West play. After guiding the squad to the league's Western Division Championship, Williams was selected Big West Coach of the Year and National Association of Basketball Coaches District 15 Coach of the Year. After six games this season, Williams' Gaucho record is now 16-18 and his overall record as a college coach is 205-117. His teams have won either a league, division or National Championship in five straight seasons.

Probable Reserves - Notes
G - Brandon Payton- Missed all seven of his shots against Pepperdine.
G - LaRon Bryant - Has played only 14 minutes in the last two games combined.
G - B.J. Ward - Went scoreless against Pepperdine, his first scoreless effort of year.
F - Mike Vukovich- Returned vs. Pepperdine after missing a game with the flu.
F - Ross Carmichael - Transfer from Texas Tech becomes eligible vs. Concordia.

The Hull Truth, Nothing But The Truth
The truth is, freshman swingman Mark Hull is off to a good start in his career. The 6-foot-6 product of Glendale's Hoover High School scored a career-high 19 points and had a career-high-tying seven rebounds in last week's loss to Pepperdine. It was the fourth straight double-digit performance for Hull and it raised his team-leading scoring average to 11.7 points per game. He is the lone Gaucho to have scored in double-figures in five of six games this season. In addition, Hull has been a bright spot in UCSB's otherwise poor shooting start. At 50.0%, he is the only regular at or over the 50.0% mark. In the last three games, Hull has made 15-of-24 shots from the field, 62.5% and he has averaged 15.0 points and 6.0 rebounds. In addition, in the last two games he has made 4-of-7 shots from three-point range, 57.1%. Finally, while Hull has only come up with six assists on the season, five of them have come in the last two contests.

Jordani Heats Up, May Have To Sit Down
There is good news and bad news from the Juliano Jordani front. First, the good news. After a slow offensive start (nine points and 1-for-11 shooting in the first two games), Jordani has started to heat up offensively. In the last four contests, the 6-foot-7 Brazilian has scored 53 points (13.3 per game), made 15-of-39 shots (38.5%) overall and 10-of-21 shots from three-point range, an outstanding 47.6%. Additionally, he is the only Gaucho, besides Hull, to average in double-figures for the season at 10.3 per game. Jordani also paces the team in rebounding at 7.0 per game and he has rebounded 7.8 rebounds per game in the last four. Now that we have that out of the way, we must report the bad news. Jordani has suffered a bad sprain of the right ankle and is very doubtful for Monday's game against Concordia and equally as doubtful for Wednesday's game at San Diego State.

Carmichael: In The Nick Of Time
It stinks that Jordani hurt his ankle, but if it had to happen at least it happened at a time when UCSB was getting another frontcourt player. Junior Ross Carmichael, a 6-foot-9, 245-pound transfer from Texas Tech becomes eligible for UCSB's game against Concordia. Carmichael arrived at Santa Barbara for Winter Quarter of last year and was forced to sit out the Winter, Spring and Fall Quarters before becoming eligible. He played two seasons for the Red Raiders. As a sophomore, the native of Dallas, Texas and graduate of Lake Highlands High School averaged 3.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Carmichael made 15 starts in the post as a sophomore. In two campaigns at Texas Tech, he shot 54.1% from the field. In 1997-98, he led Texas Tech with 26 blocked shots. In addition to his on-the-court attributes, Carmichael was a two-time First Team Academic-All Big 12 member. Obviously, he will immediately become a contributor.

The Opponents
UC Santa Barbara and Concordia University (of Portland) have never met. The Gauchos and San Diego State have met 72 times with the Aztecs holding a 38-34 advantage. UCSB and SDSU have not played since 1986 when the Gauchos recorded a 87-73 win. None of the players who played in that game will play in this year's matchup. As for BYU, the Gauchos have played them only twice and the Cougars have won both games. UCSB and BYU have not played since 1979.

The Gauchos At Home
With its 68-64 loss to Pepperdine last week, UCSB is now 1-2 at the Thunderdome this year. In addition to their loss against the Waves, the Gauchos have lost to powerful Stanford (62-49) and they have defeated Westmont College (73-57). Last season, after opening the year with a four game home losing streak, the Gauchos closed the year by going 8-2 over the final ten home games to finish with an overall home record of 8-6.

The Gauchos On The Road
UCSB is winless away from home this season. After opening the year at home, the Gauchos played three in a row on the road, losing at San Jose State, USF and USC. Last season, UCSB went 6-6 in true road games and 7-7 in all games away from the Thunderdome. After opening at 0-4, they went 6-2 in true road games.